An activity that's been popping up lately has had some users come to me asking if this is using "hive" the way it's meant to, especially the rewards pool.
Now we all probably know by now that there's gray areas there and I'm sure many projects have crossed the line a long time ago but are being ignored because there's either bigger things to focus on or people actively trying to put a stop to it are then seen as evil downvoters who want to "destroy" this place, etc, etc, which I've had a fair deal of drama of that I no longer have the energy or time to endulge in. So I thought I'd rather just write a post about it and let you think it through.
Also I'm kind of busy with other things lately, such as developing apps while keeping up my curation of post shares which I think is more important currently than only curating users/content.
Anyway, let's start from the beginning, sort of. There used to be hive.blog (condenser) and people used it, eventually some people created @peakd which offered a more modern UX and they were actively listening to feedback and implementing it promptly which grew in success and got a lot of traffic compared to hive.blog (even though this was happening on the predecessor chain, I'm not going to make it too confusing for this simple idea). Then, or before peakd, i don't remember, ecency came along and eventually also inleo got a big share of the userpool. Either way. For me personally, I stuck with peakd, I had gotten used to peakd and like a lot of the things it offered that others didn't. It may be part being used to and changing being too difficult, it may be part because I didn't like the UI's of others and/or partly how the creators of them acted and came off to me.
Now here's where things start to get weird, I don't wanna point fingers, so let's just say these are all examples for the sake of the argument I'm trying to present.
Let's say that inleo only curated users who posted through inleo. People didn't need to like the frontend to use it, they just wanted that upvote so they posted through it.
The blockchain allows for metadata behind posts so it can mark if a post was submitted through a certain front-end, so one could say whoever was curating for that front-end with its stake was actively looking for this mark or simply filtering out all other posts to only upvote people posting through this front-end.
These were the big 4 front-ends for a long time.
Now that creating front-ends is a 1 day's job kind of deal. Even I created an experimental one where I wanted curation to work differently Video and explanation about it here:
The thing that people are wondering now is, is curating based off of which front-end you're using good for hive? And furthermore, is it good if we keep "bribing" people to use other front-ends/dapps over existing copies as it may splinter off the already small community even more further diminishing the numbers of our "big front-ends" web-wise. I.e. if someone were to check traffic stats of ecency, it may seem very weak if they're not aware that there's an equal amount of unique users on hive.blog, peakd and inleo.
I personally am of the opinion that if you truly bring something innovative and unique, then it's fine if you upvote people using your platforms as long as curation isn't fully auto/blind and you're keeping in check with blacklists and such. However, if you've just created copies of existing platforms and you're using your stake to bribe people to use those exact same front-ends/dapps/services out of pure greed, at times someone stopping to use an existing good front-end over your vibecoded copy just because you're guaranteeing votes to them - the question becomes why and what's your end goal?
Either way, I'm working on a couple front-ends directed at a few communities myself so was mostly just wondering what people think of it. I'm personally going to make damn sure that if a need to use another front-end exists, it better offer something the others don't and upvotes isn't part of that equation.
Signal
Type: original post | Authentic: authentic | Importance: important
Topic: Ecosystem fragmentation, Web traffic metrics, and Value-driven DApp development
Tags: #hiveblockchain #web3development #seometrics #blockchaingovernance #appinnovation #dapps #communitygrowth #tokenomics
Claim: The proliferation of cloned interfaces on Hive that rely on the incentive of guaranteed votes fragments the community's web traffic and weakens the position of the main platforms in global metrics.
000000 — The author analyzes the negative impact of community fragmentation and argues that dApps should compete through technical innovation, not through reward conditioning.
Why it matters: From my perspective, this argument highlights an obvious reality on Hive: while the diversity of interfaces affects overall traffic metrics, the "conditional voting" dynamic arises because smaller content creators—who rarely receive direct support from large investors—are forced to seek alternatives that value their work. Hive should evolve into a fairer and more organic ecosystem; therefore, it is crucial to support and promote new projects and curation models that truly reward and dignify the
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This comment is kind of a great example to my post as well. Hope you don't mind if I adjust the rewards a bit.
Would be great to be able to click a button and adjust the rewards being printed out of thin air from the DHF like this too... maybe one day.
I agree with you, which is why when I came across this it made me think, "really!?". I was using the site and just couldn't after seeing this, it feels like a certain level of loyalty is required for curation.
@bushcraftbites you are referring to older curation methods.
We're evolving each day & it's not valid.
You can check discord server & see latest announcements.
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Can I get an invite code?
You can find all links here - https://linktr.ee/sagarkothari88
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All of this makes sense, actually it gives an understanding of a bit of the history of front-ends and really everything that's happening, where anything that’s beneficial to Hive should be supported, whichever front-end it is coming from. In the end, we are all doing things not just for ourselves but for Hive, at least making a small contribution so it keeps going, as we all benefit from it in the long run as well. I can understand about incentives that could sway people even if not intentionally being done. But in the end we are all contributing in different ways so we have the long term health and growth of Hive and that benefits everyone. Sounds exciting and interesting to see the two front-ends you are working on, and I am sure they will contribute to Hive. :)
Warm greetings. I believe your initiative is very well-focused. In my experience, I greatly value the incentive of points and votes from Ecency when using their feed, as well as the support I receive from Inleo. Securing a vote from a major investor is difficult and happens sporadically, so receiving support from accounts like @ecency and @inleo.voter is extremely rewarding; it not only motivates us personally but also drives the growth of the entire blockchain.
I also appreciate the support of #hivesuite and @sagarkothari88, a platform that recognizes those of us who create short-form content. I hope more initiatives emerge that value the time and effort we invest in the community.
I wish you every success. I hope your project achieves what we all strive for on Hive: equitable support, regardless of the platform we use to create content. After all, Hive is one platform.
Posted via First Context
@yusmelys thank you for the tag & support.
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If a frontend serves only a specific community, it's fine it upvotes only posts in a certain community, however if it's a frontend for globally hive it's not good it upvotes only users using it, one should upvote the post not the front end used
As far as I understand, post is about https://hivesuite.app
point noted @davideownzall
I'm evolving & learning day by day.
I'll update curation mechanics.
Eager to have feedback.
Happy to have it noticed.
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Yes, we are all together in this boat and our goal is to promote hive and make it good for people to stay, despite the front end and app preferences... if it dies, we all lose togheter
@davideownzall true. I've added many free games.
With that, I hope people will have fun & stay engaged.
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I also like how peakd looks and all the features, so I use that to read posts. I also luv getting points from ecency and Its cool to amass those periodically throughout my day, so i use ecency for wallet and posting. I think its great to have so many frontends to use.
Myself I was thinking that Frontend should serve specific communities and not everything. I myself think of making a frontend, but mostly to act like a website on a specific domain: let's take for example finance or sports. The idea is to have the Frontend opened to the entire world and act like a website, with Hive being the infrastructure and try to bring as much people to here (first the site subject and after that for them to discover there is a blockchain behind it). Just my thoughts...
This is what I think too, check out https://youarethe.host which is such a site. One community, has hive login and email support too!
Peakd and such can be the overall view all communities site.
I'd mainly want to know what their curation method was. Automatic? Algorithm? Human?
hard to say
Hello @acidyo,
I would say evolving, learning, observing & updating day by day.
Nothing is fixed.
Feedback is noted.
I'll update curation mechanism
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I've known for a long time who is good at allocating votes and who isn't.
The concern is frontend-based voting: users may be rewarded because they post via HiveSuite, not because the content is good.
My Reply: Understood. I'm still evolving and learning day by day. I'll make the necessary corrections and make sure curation is not framed.
Hive post metadata shows which app/frontend was used, so curators can filter and vote based on that.
My Reply: HiveSuite app shows feed from all different apps.
On hivesuite-app, user in fact can choose where to post. We've added filter but if it's not recommended, we'll remove it. Please keep the feedback flowing.
copy of existing Hive frontends.
My Reply: I'm jobless front-end developer 😭. I heavily invested & interested in hive. Not taking anything from DHF. Building hive-suite-app based on knowledge I gain on hive blockchain daily. You take it as copy of existing front-ends. I take it as a personal-hobby-based-learning project. From my point of view, Ecency-Peakd-InLeo are paid versions (DHF) & I'm building OSS. I'm building my own portfolio when I don't have work & I've some spare time. All feedbacks are welcome. If I ask for work in hive, marky tells me to go to wendys. For him, it may be pun & fun. For me it's a disrespect. If you've something with which I can get some paid work on hive, I would be happy to contribute. If not, I pursue my own ideas.
Curation should not be fully automatic or blind. quality checks, blacklist checks, and abuse prevention
My Reply: Blacklist, spamminators, content flagging etc already in place. I've already informed community members to report anything if you abuse. I've also updated curation system & it's evolving. but if you've even more feedback, please do share.
fragment Hive’s small userbase across many similar frontends. Fragmentation can weaken traffic stats and visibility for major Hive apps like PeakD, Ecency, InLeo, and Hive.blog.
My Reply: That’s a valid concern. I’m open to working on this. If SEO, canonical links, metadata, or any other implementation detail can help avoid hurting Hive’s overall visibility, I’m happy to update HiveSuite accordingly. Please feel free to share your suggestions. I’m all ears.
I'm also on MM, Discord, Telegram. You can connect with me anytime.
Onwards & Upwards. Hive to the moon.
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Okay but you understand my point though.
If I created a copy of your hivesuite and told people to come use mine instead and I'd offer 10x bigger votes that's pretty dumb way to do things, no?
People need to go use apps because they want to, because they offer something fun and new/different (and you are offering new things as well as I've noticed on the snaps feed so that's good), but not because you're encouraging them with upvotes and potentially forcing/encouraging them to drop your footer links everywhere to get the votes. That's using the reward pool to push your own agenda while others are using it to reward content/authors or for things/projects that benefit hive as a whole.
I had the same issue with starkerz earlier upvoting a single comment to $1.80 just because they used that First Contact app. Don't try bribe people with votes to use your things excessively. Giving them rewards on posts is fine but when you start doing it over multiple comments, barely pushing them past the dust threshold just so your footer is visible in as many posts as possible at the top of the comment section is shady, annoying and obvious what you're trying to do, so please don't.
Please keep the feedback flowing. I'll update app accordingly. Thank you for sharing the feedback.
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appreciate you listening to feedback, and don't just take my word for it, ask around a wider audience, but yeah, it can be improved to be less invasive.
Got it. Actively Listening to every user who tags us & report an issue or share a feedback.